Emily-Rose Bennett | The Flint JournalSheila Terrones speaks with a friend on the balcony in the lobby of the former Durant Hotel on Saginaw Street, in Flint. Terrones, a physical therapy major at University of Michigan-Flint, says she enjoys living at the Durant and feels safe.

FLINT — The former Durant Hotel is filling up faster than anticipated and its developer is eyeing other downtown buildings for future housing projects.

Since reopening last fall following a nearly $30 million renovation, the Durant’s 93 apartments are already at 75 percent occupancy.

That’s ahead of schedule and vastly exceeded the expectations of Richard Karp, the Lansing-based developer behind the building’s overhaul.

“We didn’t expect to be this far until spring 2011,” he said. “We’re quite pleased with the robust activity.”

Built in the 1920s and named after the founder of General Motors, the building stood vacant for decades and was a symbol of Flint’s decaying downtown.

Now it is an example of what developers say the city can be.

It also has led Karp to begin surveying other properties for redevelopment.

“We’re interested in a number of parcels,” he said, adding that he won’t reveal their locations until he controls them.

Sheila Terrones said she chose to live in the Durant because of its proximity to the University of Michigan-Flint. The physical therapy student said she can walk to class, which is just across the street.

“I don’t have to deal with the winter driving or brush off the snow on my car,” said Terrones, who relocated to Flint from Chicago in August.

Renovations began in 2008 and were completed last fall. Rent for the apartments ranges from $475 to $960 a month.

Commercial space on the first floor is filling up as well, Karp said.

A lease for the southwest corner of the building is close to being inked, said Karp, who declined to elaborate until the deal is finalized.

The lower-level, commercial areas most likely will be leased for office use, he added.

“We’d really like to see some quality retail,” he said, adding that those businesses would be financially stable and well respected. “Unfortunately, we have to deal with what the marketplace presents to us.”

The response to the Durant signifies a resurgency in the northern part of the downtown, said Doug Weiland, executive director of the Genesee County Land Bank, which helped shape the Durant’s redevelopment.

Weiland said the Durant project, new lofts downtown and UM-Flint’s Riverfront Residence Hall have added almost 1,000 residents downtown — people who Weiland said are vital to attracting and retaining new restaurants and businesses.

The opening of Blackstone’s Pub and Grill and 501 Bar and Grill downtown in August 2009 are a few of recent additions to the city’s facade because of increased residency.

Although no study has been conducted by the city or Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce to assess the financial impact of downtown residents, officials said the stability of these business and increased foot traffic point to positive economic effects.

“Across the United States, urban living is in for young people,” said Tim Herman, the chamber’s chief executive officer. “If you go to any major town — Royal Oak, Chicago, Minneapolis, Grand Rapids, Detroit — downtown living is in.”

The 40-some lofts developer Ridgway White has in the downtown have had waiting lists for the past three years.

The demand for downtown housing is extremely evident and White said he’d like to see 3,000 people living downtown.

“We find that people are looking for a unique product that you can’t get anywhere else,” White said. “Downtown offers a distinct charm for the right person.”